Page 399 of Double or Nothing

We raise our glasses of champagne, and for a moment, nobody speaks. The glint of the bubbles under the kitchen lights speaks volumes all on its own. The evening catches up with us in the quiet.

Dad’s face when I told him his empire no longer included me.

Christopher’s blood trickling from his nose.

My own voice daring to announce the truth before I lost my courage.

I’m in love with two men. The enormity should frighten me, but It doesn’t. Not at all.

I clink my glass against Jack’s, then Bryce’s.

“To us.”

“To red, purple and yellow,” Bryce says.

Jack’s eyes settle on us.

“For ever,” he adds.

Those two words change the air.

What the fuck?

Jack Reid isn’t the type to make statements about for ever. He barely makes promises about next Tuesday.

But there is no joke in his expression. Not even a hint of one.

Bryce raises an eyebrow, in curiosity, not in malice.

“For ever?”

I see Jack’s old instinct flashing through him. In his jester grin. The urge to laugh, deflect, or pretend the words mean nothing.

But it passes, right before my eyes.

He looks at Bryce. Then at me.

“Yes,” he says. “For ever.”

My eyes fill. Just like that, without warning, they prickle with the simplicity of the words.

“Don’t,” Jack warns. “If you start crying, BT will start, and then I’ll be stuck dealing with an emotional flood, when all I want is cheese and champers.”

“And for evers.” Bryce is smiling, but I see a glimpse in his eyes, tears there too. “I’m not going to cry,” he says.

“You already are,” I say, and out comes a sob. A happy one.

I put down my glass and wrap my arms around both of them.

Bryce’s ice pack presses against my back. Jack’s champagne nearly sloshes over my shoulder.

“For ever,” I say into the space between them.

Jack kisses my temple.

Bryce’s cheek settles against my hair.

“For ever,” Bryce repeats.